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Cambrian and A beri/slwith…

Bestnct KETOS, &"c.

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Hocal information.

. PETTY SESSIONS,—ABERYSTWITH.

TOWN'S IMPROVEMENT COMMISSION.

THE TOWN COUNCIL.

POWELL v. LEWIS.

LEWIS VERSUS POWELL.

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LEWIS VERSUS POWELL. So long as the slightest possibility existed of this now celebrated case being settled without an appeal to the public tribunal of the law, we refrained from hazarding a word upon the merits of the dispute but now that it has been heard and settled in Westminster Hall, there no longer remains any necessity for silence. Indeed, our London contemporaries have very freely commented upon the trial, the particu- lars of which are printed in the majority of newspapers in the kingdom. Miss Lewis's name has, by the lady's own act, become pub- lic property; and when she elected that it should be so, we hope she was prepared to, support the burden of notoriety, which she is bound to drag through life. Silent worth and undemonstrative virtue did not suit the lady's inclinations; and she is now destined to be sated with popularity, if not with praise. In future suits, no doubt, her case will be quoted as a precedent for designing damsels of the post meridian period of life; and her story committed to memory" by hospitable bachelors of easy temper. The case is shortly stated. In the early part of last year, the plaintiff in this action, and, we believe, the whole of her family, were on a visit with the Colonel at Nanteos. No doubt they enjoyed themselves to their hearts' pa- tent in a mansion where, according to the evi- dence of the plaintiff's brother, there was no stint of any thing. It being leap year, the ladies, by virtue of ancient custom, possessed the right of proposing to the gentlemen, and one at least of them exercised that privilege with considerable success. The plaintiff in her innocent and playful manner—a manner na- tural enough to extreme youth—proposed for the defendant, and he, unfortunately for him- self, regarded the proposal in a serious light This,mark,was but a jest on the part of the lady; but for the Colonel, it turned out to be no joke. It appears that subsequent to the date of these interesting gambols, Colonel Powell invited Miss Lewis and her brother to visit him in London. This was in the month of April last— we are not informed of the exact date but we should not be surprised to find that it was on the 1st day of that memorable month. Whilst there it seems that the plaintiff and the defen- dant came to the very comfortable understand- ing that they were to be married. The Colonel consulted his medical" friend," Dr. King, res- pecting the advisability of the step he was about to take; and that confidential adviser in- formed his patient that he might with safety make a "prudent marriage, whatever that am- biguous phrase may mean. At the request of the Colonel, the lady was informed what her duties as his wife were to be; in other words, she was told that he was to be no husband to her, except in name, and she expressed herself not only willing, but anxious to undertake the revolting office. Many a flush upon the cheek of virtue will be paid in trubute to the record of this odious bargain and many a cowardly traducer will it furnish with an argument against the honor, and purity, in purpose, of the IIRIA weaker sex. As soon as Colonel Powell's-friwids imd rel»- tives were made acquainted witli the state of affairs, they judiciously endeavoured to dis- suade him from the commission of so rash an act; and .indeed so preposterous did it appear even to the lady's relatives, that her brother— to his honor be it said, advised against it. But the bait was too tempting for the lady to give up—a settlement of £500 a-year—the mistress of a great mansion-the high social position of being Mrs. Colonel Powell—all were too strong a temptation for this single minded suitor; so she determined to rule in Nanteos, or know the reason why. But Ithomme propose et Dieu disposè-the lady was doomed to disappoint- ment. In cool reflection, the matter was set before the Colonel's better reason, and he ad- mitted the absurdity of the position he had oc- cupied towards the lady, by withdrawing from it. Unquestionably the Colonel is by no means blameless in the matter. He was rash and impetuous—he took a very grave step without consulting any of his relatives, and would, in all probability, have gone the irrevocable length of marrying the lady, had it not been for the timely interposition of his friends. But his fault was the fault of a generous nature. He did not see the redicule he would have brought upon himself by the fulfilment of his marriage scheme and, although, there was no love in the case, he believed that the lady's friendship and regard for him, were as pure and disinterested as his were for her. Had it been so, no action would ever have been brought. Had the case for the consideration of the # j ry embraced the facts connected with th¡a proposal of marriage only, and subsequent withdrawal by the Colonel, it is a queatiott whether the lady would not have come of second best, or, at least, have had but nominal damages awarded her. Unfortunately for the! defendant however, in an evil hour, a plea put on the record for the defence, in which the chaste character of the lady was aspersed. Strange to say, although there was no proof to sustain this plea, the clever London attorney allowed it to remain upon the file till within a few days of the trial coming off, when it was withdrawn by the Colonel's orders, with expressions of sincere regret that it had evef been raised. The defendant is to be pitied ili this instance, because, although^he might have been unacquainted with the acts of his agents- he was held answerable for them. So MiSS Lewis got a verdict of £2000, not in fact for the' breach of promise, but for the incidental slan- der which had been uttered respecting herl The Times in commenting on this case, says,—• "It is true that they (the slanders) were re- tracted without reserve, and with expressions of regret, but the mischief was done, and the minds of the jury were diverted from the con- sideration of the actual loss sustained to that of the injury incidentally inflicted. This was ine- vitable, and not altogether unjust; but we can- not help regarding JE2000 as an excessive com- pensation for either or both." It will be seen that the plaintiff cannot lay the flattering unction to her soul that the money she has been awarded, is given as a salve for the wound she sustained in losing a husband; but as a substantial acknowledgment that her honor was assailed where there was no rent in her virgin armour. Get money, fairly, if you can, but get.it," is an old maxim that meets With more general approval that the world is willing to acknowledge. If the plaintiff failed ta ob- tain JE500 a year by marriage, she certainly has secured a good round sum by law, which no doubt will win her many a lover, quite as-dis- interested as herself, who was never dreamt of in her wildest dreams before. We hope sin- cerely that the money will make her happy; and that she will speedily meet with a swain, less fickle than the Colonel, and more suitable to occnpy the enviable position of her husband, than he ever could have been. She will thus solemnize a rite which will be neither "an in- decency an outrage, nor a crime." It is clear that the plaintiff, in the late action, sets a rather exalted value upon her feelings, when she lays her damages at £50,000 for the loss of a marriage, in which, as Mr. Celeridge observed, there would have been "nothing like respect esteem or love, in which her heart was engaged." Juries are notoriously liberal with other people's money, and no doubt they con- sidered they were making ample compensation to Miss Lewis by awarding her ,£2000;. and at the same time, taking a bad bargain off the Colonel's hands, at a tolerably low figure. Now considering the relations which, prior to this sentimental debauch, existed between Colonel Powell and the plaintiff's family, we fancy the lady would have best consulted her own credit, by allowing the matter to drop. Thus too, she would have secured the gratitude and esteem of one who has been the lifelong benefactor of her whole family, and avoided an expose from which every modest mind instinc- tively shrinks.

JTOCCUANEOUA,

FROM THE MINING JOURNAL, Feb.…

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